Landlords face fines over EPCs

News just in from the BBC: Landlords in Slough who fail to provide official energy efficiency ratings for their properties face fines of £200.
Trading standards officers are targeting estate and letting agents as well as private landlords.
Landlords who do not have a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) issued by an authorised assessor will be given seven days to provide one.

Ratings are designed to help inform potential tenants or buyers how much a home would cost to run.
Energy Performance Certificates give a property an efficiency rating from 'A' for good to 'G' for poor. They are being checked as part of the authority's crackdown on people living illegally in outbuildings.

The council believes up to 3,000 households in the town may have illegally converted their sheds and outbuildings to house migrant workers.

The National Landlords Association (NLA) welcomed the Slough scheme as an effort to clamp down on rogue landlords.

Head of policy, Chris Norris, said: "At a time when energy prices are rising and energy efficiency is becoming more important to prospective tenants, tenants require the information contained in the EPC to make an informed decision about the property."

Slough borough councillor James Walsh said: "Faced with a potential fine of £200, I imagine most landlords without an EPC will be getting one sorted pretty quickly."

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